Living in a world where not everyone is on an equal playing field gives us plenty of opportunities to justify our shortcomingsof which we have many. When we lose the girl on the beach to the Kevin Sorbotype, its easy for us to mumble something about how shooting juice can affect your virility. Until Hercules yells, What did you say? and we scamper off on our spindly legs. When the doorman dismisses us with a laugh at the velvet rope, its easy for us to denounce the club as being tired and played out even after we queued up for two hours only to be humiliated by some guy named Chaz. And when everyone quits Super Street to move to New York in pursuit of the Big Time, its easy for us to scream, Youll come crawling back to us in three weeks, tops! And even though its been many months since they left, were sure theyll be back. Oh yes, they will be back.
If you were to put us on an equal playing field, however, we would still lose the girl, be left off the guest list, and miss the great opportunities all because of one undeniable factwe suck. This is why when all things are equal, we despise the lack of any kind of compensation or pretext because ultimately it boils down to how good or bad you really are. This is the point where we whistle for our homework-eating dog.
But some people thrive on this level playing field because their skills are up to the task. One such person is Kousuke Kida, the president of Signal Auto. Kousuke and his staff thrive on competition, and in recent years Signal Auto has become the Japanese-tuning version of Cinderella, except with Nomex driving shoes instead of glass slippers. Signal Autos slogan may be The Stage of Street, but the company also soars on the motorsports stage. Signal Auto cars have dominated in various drag, drift, and circuit events, and one such series is the Super Taikyu N1 Endurowhich leads us to the bronze beauty splashed across these pages.
Signals Kamikaze Integra Type R was built to comply with the Class 4 specs of the N1 Enduro (see sidebar). Its appropriate that our surfing shutterbug Wes Allison shot the Signal DC5 at the Izanagi Temple in Osaka, Japan, because this car looks as if it were blessed by the gods. Signals signature motorsports livery has traditionally been in Orange Pearl, which can best be described as a pleasing peachy blend. But this Honda Integra (which we in the U.S. know as the Acura RSX) is one of the first Signal speedsters to be swathed in this copper hue. In Signal-speak this new color is called Candy Orange, which is different from Signals peach-colored Orange Pearl. While thats a whole lot of orange, you cant help but love the new color. But before the car hit the spray booth, a Rando Sport aero kit was added. Other exterior touches include Signals carbon-fiber hood, GT-Wing, and GT-Mirrors.
When we speak of a level playing field, things dont get more even than N1s Class 4 division. Any two-wheel-drive car with a 2,000cc-or-smaller powerplant can come to the party, but tuning is severely limited. Car prep factors heavily here. According to the N1 specs, Signal was allowed to balance and blueprint the K20A using only stock components. To get the most out of the factory six-speed transmission, a Cusco MZ RS one-way limited-slip differential and an Exedy twin-plate clutch were added. Although the titanium exhaust is limited to the stock size, it is less restrictive than its factory counterpart. Since this is endurance racing a 90L fuel cell is allowed, which replaces the factory spare and jack. The lack of a jack doesnt pose much of a problem as the Integra is fitted with an onboard air-jack system.
Another interesting addition is the Earthing System. At first we thought it was some sort of backhoe attachment, but much like our theory on where babies come from, we were way off the mark. Earthing is one of those horribly misguided Japanese translations for a battery ground wire (ground, earthoh, we get it). The Earthing System features special ground wires that offer a consistent electrical currentmuch like the shock treatment Ricky is receiving to help cull his Sharon Sotto obsession. The system is said to improve engine start-up, idle, throttle response, ECU operation, and gas mileage. Maybe we should strap Ricky up to one.
Footwork or chassis improvements are allowed in Class 4, and Signal started with a clean slate by stripping the shell and stitch-welding all of the body seams for reduced weight and rigidity. A Mugen rollcage adds even more chassis firmness, plus driver safety. Underneath, Tein coilovers, Mugen bushings, and a Tanabe Sustec stabilizer improve cornering prowess. Kousuke and crew felt the factory ITR four-pot Brembos were up to the task of going fade-free for 300 miles of circuit abuse, and because of that they only added Endless race pads to the mix. Finally, Volks new CE28N wheels were fitted with a set of Yokohama Advan N1-Spec slicks.
Driver skill is another factor that takes effect on this even playing field. Signal has enlisted Yoshinobu Fukuda and Muneaki Nakatani to manhandle the car at the track. Both of these guys are Civic Inter Cup specialists, and Yoshinobu-san has driven Signals N1 Civic for the last five years. And when Yoshinobu-san and Muneaki-san pilot the Integra for long stints, they are rewarded with a Bride Zeta race bucket, Sabelt five-point harnesses, and a Victor steering wheel. A Stack gauge cluster with a digital data recorder relays the vitals back to the drivers.
When we look at Signals Kamikaze Integra its easy for us to say that we could have built one just like it. That is, until Kousuke yells, What did you say? and we scamper away. Where is that homework-eating dog of ours, anyway?